The first I.S. machine was patented in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,843,159, dated Feb. 2, 1932, and 1,911,119, dated May 23, 1933. An I.S. (individual section) machine has a plurality of identical sections (a section frame in which and on which are mounted a number of section mechanisms) each of which has a blank station which has one or more blank molds for receiving a corresponding number of gobs of molten glass. The received gobs are formed into parisons having a threaded opening at the bottom (the finish) and a blow station which receives the parisons and forms them into bottles standing upright with the finish at the top. The more effective the heat transfer from a gob of molten glass within a blankmold, the quicker the forming process.
Conventionally, the blankmolds are formed with a series of vertical holes and cooling air is either directed upwardly through these holes (bottom up) or downwardly through these holes (top down). The most recent design for an I.S. machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,254 and a conventional system for supplying top down cooling air is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,875. Such manifolds interfit with the blank molds making removal of the blank molds difficult. An operator conventionally uses a crowbars to separate the manifold from the blank molds thereby making it possible for a second operator to remove the blank molds.